Public utilities provide electric, gas, water or telephone service to customers in a specified area. Utilities have a duty to provide safe and adequate service on reasonable terms to anyone who lives within the service area on without discriminating between customers. Because most utilities operate in near monopolistic conditions, they can be heavily regulated by local, state, and federal authorities. Generally, the local and state agencies are called Public Service Commissions (PSC) or Public Utility Commissions (PUC). Municipal Utilities and Rural Electric Cooperatives may be unregulated though.
Copen is an unincorporated community in Braxton County, central West Virginia, United States. Located at the confluence of Copen Creek and Bull Fork Creek. Its most famous resident was Melvin Wine (1909-2003), an acclaimed old-time fiddler. Neighboring towns: Flower; 1.5 miles west, Arnette; SE, Burnsville; east, Bower; north